Carton



May 21, 1935. R. STONE 2,001,984

CARTON Filed May 6, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l R. STONE CARTON May 21, 1935.

Filed May 6 1953 2 Shgets-Sheet 2 Patented May 21, 1935 CARTON RaymondStone, New York, N. Y., assignor to Self-Locking Carton 00., Chicago,111., a corporation of Illinois Application May 6, 1933, Serial No.669,652

8 Claims.

, ilar materials and has particular reference to improvements in cartonsof the type described in Troyk patent, No. 1,766,155, issued June 24,1930.

A particular object of my invention is to provide a cushion bottomcarton in which is employed a small quantity of cardboard.

An additional object is to provide a cushion bottom carton of the typedescribed which may be folded into flattened or collapsed condition inan easier manner than has been customary heretofore.

A still further object is the provision of an egg carton having a'bottomsection of substantially inverted V-shape and cross partitions which aresecured to 'the bottom section and being higher adjacent one wall of thecarton than adjacent the other wall thereof.

These and other objects will be apparent to one skilled in the art froma consideration of the following description of a preferred embodimentof my invention and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFig. 1 is aperspective view of a carton constructed in accordance withmy invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through the center of the carton,as represented by the line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the carton taken along line 3-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the carton shown in collapsed or flattenedcondition;

Fig'. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the carton in which thefront edges of the cross partitions are lower than the rear edges andshows the cross partitions in horizontal position preliminary to beingrotated into vertical position for erection of the carton; and

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 5 andshows the carton completely erected.

The cellular carton described in the aforesaid Troyk patent consists offront and rear walls, cross partitions secured to said walls, and abottom'sectionof substantially greater width than the width of the crosspartitions, said bottom being pressed upwardly along its central portioninto substantially inverted V-shape and secured to the crosspartitions'by means of hooks therepn.

lines centrally of the cross partitions and the bottom section. Inmanufacture, the blank is properly cut and scored, then folded along thescoring in the center of the bottom section, again folded along thescore in the cross partitions and the attaching strip secured to thefree end in the cross partitions is glued to the rear wall. It will 5 beseen that this process of manufacture involves a number of foldingoperations and thatthe gluing operation must be efieoted beneathsuperimposed paper.

In accordance with my invention, the objections 1 to the method ofmanufacture of the Troyk carton are eliminated by proportioning theparts of the carton in such -a manner as to permit the carton tdbemanufactured by a simple folding operation. Also, my carton involves thesaving 15 of considerable quantities of material. More specifically, thecarton is constructed in accordance with a formula which may be statedas follows:

The height of one vertical wall of the carton 20 below the line alongwhich the cross partitions are hinged thereto plus the width of thecross partitions is equal to the height of the other vertical wall ofthe cartonbelow the line along which the cross partitions are hingedthereto plus 5 the width of the two cushion-forming-bottom sections ofthe carton, the combined width of said bottom sections being greaterthan the width of the cross partitions.

When constructed in accordance with this for- 30 mula it is possible tocollapse the carton along the base of the higher of said walls, based onthe line of attachment thereto of the cross partitions. lE-his type offolding, which has been impossible heretofore in the case of cushioncartons, is highly advantageous from, many standpoints, including thelack-of necessity for folding the cross partitions along their centralportion, as is done in collapsing the Troyk carton.

Since there are two vertical walls to an egg carton, the formula may bemet by attaching the cross partitions to the front wall at a higherpoint than the rear wall, or by attaching the cross partitions to therear wall at a higher point than at the front wall, the carton beingcollapsed along the base of the higher wall.

As shown in the drawings, the carton is formed from a blank of materialwhich is suitably cut and scored to provide, in the order named, acover-locking strip l0 having hooks ll along the free edge thereof; acover I! hinged to the top of a rear wall IS, a bottom section composedof a rear section I l and a front section IS, a front wall l6, crosspartitions l'l hinged to the top thereof by means of integral triangularhinged portions l8, and an attaching strip l9 hinged to the opposite orfree edges of the cross partitions by means of triangular hinges 20. Inthe bottom sections 14 and I5 and adjacent the cross partitions I! areprovided slots 2| and 22, respectively. The cross partitions are rotatedinto vertical position about the hinged portions l8 and and hooks 23 onthe lower rear portion of the cross partitions are engaged in slots 2|of the rear section of the bottom, while hooks 24 on the lower portionof the front part of the cross partitions are engaged in slots 22 of thefront section of the bottom portion, whereby the bottom portion issuspended in substantially inverted V-shape to provide a cushion foreggs carried by the carton.

Between the hooks 23 and 24 the lower parts of the cross partitions arecut'away, the cut-away portions of each cross partition appearing on thetop of the next adjacent cross partition in the form of upwardlyextending projections 25 which act as supports for the cover l2 when thelatter is in closed position.

It will be observed that the bottom sections l4 and I5 are wider thanthe distance between the front and rear walls but that the combinedwidth of such sections is less than the width of the bottorn section ofthe carton described in Troyk Patent; No. 1,766,155. In erected positionthe bottom sections extend upwardly and inwardly to form a cushionbottom of substantially inverted V-shape, the sections of the bottomextending substantially in planes rather than being curved. In certaininstances it may be found desirable to impart a curve to the bottomsections but in the modification shown in the drawings the sections areflat or uncurved in order to save material.

In manufacture of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the blank fromwhich the carton is produced is suitably cut and scored, and then foldedalong a score line between the front wall l6 and the front bottomsection IS. A line of glue is applied to the inner face of the attachingstrip l9 and the latter is pressed against the rear wall, adheringthereto, thus completing the formation of the collapsed carton. From acollapsed condition the carton may be erected by means of a setting upmechanism such as that disclosed in Burger Reissue Patent, No. 18,547.

The elements of the structure are proportioned soas to comply with thefollowing formula: The height of the rear wall from the line along whichthe cross partitions are hinged thereto to the bottom of the carton plusthe width of the rear bottom section plus the width of the front bottomsection is equal to the height of the front wall plus the width of thecross partitions.

I find that it is possible to construct the carton so as to comply withthis formula by securing the attaching strip at such a position that thehinged portions of the cross partitions by which the cross partitionsare hinged to the rear wall are lower than the hinged portions of thecross partitions by which the latter are attached to the front wall. Inother words, the cross partitions-are mounted to the front and rearwalls on a bias. It will be seen that the exact proportion of theelements of.

the construction may be varied, so long as the formula prescribed isadhered to. For instance, if it is desired to increase the width of thebottom portion, as by increasing the width of the bottom sections l4 andI5, the carton may be made to comply with the formula prescribed bydecreasing the distance between the bottom of the rear wall and thepoint at which the cross partitions are hinged thereto. That is, thecross partitions are positioned on a still greater bias, the ex-. actextent of which will depend upon the increase in the width of the bottomof the carton. As the cross partitions are secured to the rear wall at apoint below the top of the front wall, the cross partitions are cut insuch a manner that the lower portions are of less height than the frontportions, the extra material preferably being allowed to remain on theupper portion of the cross partitions and projections 26. Theseprojections serve to make it less obvious that the partitions are hingedat different heights adjacent the front and rear walls, respectively. a

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the carton is constructed in asimilar manner to the carton described hereinbefore, except that thebias of the carton is oppositely disposed. That is, the elements of thecarton are so proportioned and constructed as to comply with thefollowing formula: The height of the rear wall below the point at whichthe cross partitions are pivoted thereto plus the width of the crosspartitions is equal to the height of the front wall plus the width ofthe front bottom section plus the width of the rear bottom section. Inthis embodiment, the carton is collapsed along the score line betweenthe rear bottom section and the rear wall and the score line between thetriangular projections It? by which the cross partitions are hinged tothe front wall and the front wall It.

That is, the cross partitions are biased in such a manner that a planebetween the rear hinged portions and the front hinged portions willextend downwardly toward the front wall.

In either of the cartons described hereinbefore there is the advantagethat very little paper is required. In a modification which extensivetests have shown to be satisfactory from the standpoints of carryingcapacity and safety, the bottom of the carton is substantially of aninch less in'width than the width of cartons constructed in accordancewith the Troyk patent, for example. In the case of a carton 11 inches inlength, it will be seen that over 8 square inches material is saved.Furthermore, the construction permits foldingof the carton intocollapsed condition without scoring or folding the cross partitions,which scoring and folding has the disadvantage of weakening the crosspartition structure and permitting the carton to be compressed morereadily than in the absence of such scorings. An additional advantage ofmy improved carton is its ease of set-up or erection. Since the bottomsections are not curved and do not come together below their apex, thebottom sections may be engaged with the hooks on the lower portion ofthe cross partitions quite readily, as by pressing the apex of thecarton into engagement with said hooks with the hand of the operator.

The variations to which my invention is susceptible are intended to beincluded in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cellular carton composed of a blank cut, scored and folded to formfront and rear walls, a cushion bottom of substantially V-shape, andcross partitions hinged to the front and rear walls, the height of oneof the vertical walls below the point at which the cross partitions arehinged thereto plus the width of the cross partitions being equal to theheight of the other of said walls below the point at which said crosspartitions are hinged thereto plus the width of said bottom section.

2. A cellular carton comprising front and rear walls, a bottom sectionof substantially inverted V-shape, cross partitions secured to saidwalls, the point of securement to one of said walls being lower than thepoint of securement to the other of said walls, and said crosspartitions being shorter adjacent the wall to which said point ofattachment is lower.

3. A cellular carton, comprising front and rear walls, cross partitionshingedly connected to said walls, and a bottom section wider than saidcross partitions, the height of one of said walls below the point atwhich the cross partitions are hinged thereto plus the width of thecross partitions being equal to the height of the other of said wallsbelow the point at which the cross partitions are hinged thereto plusthe width of said bottom section, and said bottom section being drawn upalong its central portion and engaged with said cross partitions to forma cushion bottom for said carton.

equal to the height of said front wall below the point at which thecross partitions are hinged, plus the width of the bottom section, saidcarton being foldable into collapsed condition along a score line at thebase of the rear wall.

5. A cellular carton comprising front and rear walls, cross partitionshinged to said walls, a bottom section wider than said cross partitions,said section having a central score line and means for engaging saidcross partitions to maintain said section in inverted V-shape when thecarton is in erected condition, the height of one of said walls belowthe point at which the cross partitions are hinged plus the width of thecross partitions being equal to the heights of the other of said wallsbelow the point at which the cross partitions are hinged thereto plusthe width of said bottom section.

6. A cellular carton of the type described, comprising a blank cutscored and folded to form ation that'the height of one of said wallsbelow the point at which the cross partitions are hinged plus the widthof the cross partition will equal the height of the other of said wallsbelow the point at which the cross partitions are hinged thereto plusthe width of said bottom section, whereby said carton may be collapsedalong the bottom of one of said walls and along the other of said wallsat the line said cross partitions are hinged thereto.

7. A cellular carton of the type described, comprising a blank cutscored and folded to form a rear wall extending downwardly insubstantially plane formation, a bottom section joined to the lower edgeof said rear wall, a front wall joined to the opposite edge of saidbottom section and extending upwardly therefrom in substantially planeformation, cross partitions hinged to said front wall, and an attachingstrip hinged to the opposite sides of said cross partitions and beingsecured at said rear wall at such position that the height of one ofsaid walls below the point at which the cross partitions are hinged willbe greater than the height of the other of said walls below the point atwhich said cross partitions are hinged, the height of one of said wallsbelow the point at which the cross partitions are hinged plus the widthof the cross partitions being equal to the height of the other of saidwalls below the point at which the cross partitions are hinged theretoplus the width of said bottom section, whereby said carton may becollapsed along the bottom of one of said walls and along the other ofsaid walls at the line said cross partitions are hinged thereto.

8. A cellular carton of the type described, comprising a blank cutscored and folded to form a rear wall extending downwardly insubstantially plane formation to a surface upon which the cartonispositioned, a bottom section of substantially inverted V formationhaving one edge joined to the lower portion of said rear wall andextending upwardly therefrom in cushion forming position, a front walljoined to the opposite edge of said bottom section and extendingupwardly therefrom in substantially plane formation, cross partitionshinged to said front wall, an attaching strip hinged to-the oppositesides of said cross partitions and being secured to said rear wall atsuch position that the height of one of said walls below the point atwhich the cross partitions are hinged plus the width of the crosspartitions will equal

